The Answer:

According to Kraft Foods, Kool-Aid was invented around 1927 by Edwin Perkins and his wife Kitty in Hastings, Neb.

The couple was running a mail order business called Perkins Products Company, which sold over 125 products nationally. One of the couple's best sellers was a drink syrup called Fruit Smack. In an effort to cut shipping costs, Perkins got rid of the 4 oz. glass bottles that Fruit Smack syrup was sold in and instead packaged it as a concentrated powder in an envelope. Kool-Aid was born.

—The Editors